Haunted
by Invader Phoenix
Summary: He was gone... There were no more threats... So why did he feel guilt? Zim doth not be owned by me.
1. The Echo

**Own Invader Zim I do not.**

Dib walked through the rubble. This place was in the middle of nowhere. So why was he here? The haunting shadows and echoes of the past returned to him. He tried to shake them, but, as usual, his efforts were fruitless.

It was almost three weeks ago. He'd tracked down Zim to the middle of a desert, where he found him planning to make all human cities explode with special bombs he'd made. After dealing with the alien for two years, he was used to tracking him. Dib confronted him, and they ended up wrestling on the floor. Eventually, Dib stood up to fight his enemy, and threw some sort of small machine at Zim. Zim dodged, and the machine hit the immense pile of bombs behind him. Zim was screaming his head off at Dib, who managed to escape before Zim's new base collapsed. There was no way that Zim could have escaped. No way that the Irken could have survived. Now there was nothing to worry about. No alien trying to destroy earth.

For the first week or so, Dib walked through the school with immense confidence and triumph on his face. But lately he had begun to feel… guilt. He regretted how much destruction he'd caused, and no one he knew had seen. No one he knew could comfort him. Echoes of the day had begun to haunt him, but not as if they were something from the past, as if they were something that was to be.

Now he walked along the wreckage. He opened his eyes as the memory ended. He glanced over at the ruin. For a moment he could see a flash of red, angry and evil. But Dib didn't care. What he did care about was the low growl he heard, and he could have sworn it was real.

_You._

He'd heard it so many times before, and his guilt washed over him once again. He closed his eyes and buried his head in his hands.

Then he was attacked.

It came out of nowhere. Dib felt the impact, and before long, he was on the ground, desperately attempting to fight off the attacker. It moved so fast he couldn't see what it was, but he felt metal scrape against him, with the occasional touch of what felt like skin, and he heard some sort of raspy breathing behind him. They fought for several minutes before it knocked off his glasses.

He couldn't see. He crawled out from under his attacker, whatever it was, and rushed forward. He knelt on the ground and felt around for his glasses. He could hear it moving toward him again. Dib kicked, sending it to the ground. He heard the impact. He found his glasses and put them back on so that he could take a look at the now grunting creature.

What he saw was in horrible shape. Its heavy breathing came out in rasps. The figure's clothes were ragged and torn. It wore boots that didn't rise up above its ankles, and gloves that barely surpassed the thing's wrists. Its skin was covered in what appeared to be bruises and burns. Ash streaked its face.

Dib looked in horror at what stood in front of him.

It was Zim.


	2. The Enemy

**Zim is not owned by me.**

The holes in his clothes showed glimpses of the sickly green skin underneath. His wig was spiky and in disarray, and one of his lenses was missing. Worst of all, the most spiteful look that Dib had ever seen was glued to his face.

Zim rushed forward, but Dib quickly stepped to the side. His enemy crashed to the ground. "YOU!" Zim's ragged scream didn't even sound like his voice. He wasted no time in lunging for Dib again.

Dib ran, panicked. "What are you doing?" he yelled at his foe.

Zim tackled Dib and pinned him to the ground. "HOW DAREYOU?" it obviously hurt him to speak, let alone scream. "YOU DARE LEAVE YOUR SUPERIOR TO ROT?"

Dib looked at Zim with horror. "What do you mean? What happened to you?" he stammered.

Zim stood and looked away. "You left that day. You ran like a filthy human and left me stranded. You thought I was dead, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU!"

"Well, yes."

Zim glared at him. "Of course you did. It's always this way with you humans, jumping to conclusions. Well, I survived. I was stranded here for years and years, with absolutely no aid!"

Just then Gir jumped out from the rubble. His body displayed mild rust. "WHEEEEEEEE!" he shouted. "THIS IS FUUUUUUNNNNNN!"

Dib stared at his enemy. "I thought you said you had no aid?"

Zim glanced at the now dancing robot. "Well… uh… Never mind that. What matters is that you left me to rot. For years! How could you? We've hated each other for two filthy earth years! Enemies don't leave enemies!"

Dib stared at him. "Uh, I think you're confused. First of all, it's only been a couple if wee-"

Zim's anger had flared up again. "ZIM IS CONFUSED BY NOTHING!" Just then Gir climbed on top of Zim's head.

"Master, are we gonna go home? The scary monkey show starts soon."

Zim looked at his robot. "We can't go home, Gir. Your jets have no fuel and our only means of escape have been destroyed." He refocused his gaze toward Dib, who lowered his eyes. "I hope you're happy, pig-smelly." He cringed. Talking this much was obviously excruciating in his current condition.

Dib thought for a moment. All his guilt had vanished when Zim had attacked him, but now it was returning. How could he possibly feel remorse? He hated Zim. Zim, the alien, who had tried so many times to destroy him, was furious for being abandoned. How was that supposed to work? And why was Dib now regretting leaving the Irken behind?

Zim was still looking at him, waiting for an answer. "Well?" he asked.

Dib looked down again. "No," he said, staring at the sandy ground.

"HA! I KNEW- wait, what?" Zim was confused by the human's answer.

"No, Zim, I'm not happy. Leaving you like that… it was wrong, I guess." He could see the Irken's confusion still prevailing aver his face. "I hate you, but leaving someone to die like that… It's just not right."

Zim looked at his enemy. He hadn't expected this. He had expected some sort of hate-filled response from his rival, but no, there he was, giving a heartfelt response. And Zim, filled with anger and deprived of pity, hated his enemy even more. Why did the Dib-stink regret his actions? He never had before. He had left him to a doom once before, a doom not intended for the Irken. And the two had, on several occasions, attempted to destroy each other. It was a normal occurrence. Why would this be any different?

Dib watched Zim contemplating for a good five minutes before he stood up. "I hate you, Zim, but that doesn't mean that I'm okay with accidentally leaving you to waste away." He smiled. "I'd rather have the rest of the human race find out about your… your… alien-ness."

Zim looked at him. They were enemies, but their hatred practically made them family. They needed to hate each other. That was it. "Well, I hate you, too, stink-beast."

Dib turned away. "Come on, I'll take you back to the city. Tak's ship is over there." Zim actually smiled as he began to limp forward.

The two enemies walked away from the rubble. Maybe they did need their hatred to bind them together. And that was okay.

At least they weren't friends.

A certain robot looked at them as they left. He turned back toward the wreckage and grabbed a small rubber piggy from the dust. He hugged it and hurried after the others.

Now Gir and his piggy, THAT was friendship.

THE END!

**Yay! A happy ending to an angsty story. Please R&R. Tell me what you think!**


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